2019 Annual Report...15. Consumer Media 16. Consumer Public Relations Program 19. Foodservice...

2019

Ann

ual R

epor

t

www.mushroomcouncil.org2 Mushroom Council - 2019 Annual Report

About the Mushroom Council™

3. Our Objectives and Strategic Priorities

4. Comments from the Chair

5. State of the Industry

Marketing8. Marketing Program at a Glance

9. Memorable Moments

10. Nutrition Research Program

12. Nutrition Promotion

13. Retail Program

15. Consumer Media

16. Consumer Public Relations Program

19. Foodservice Program

22. School Nutrition Program

25. Independent Auditors Report Audit


Overall Industry Objectives

Forecasted based on historic trend in shipments report and US population projections.

• Increase fresh mushroom per capita consumption from 2.9 in 2018 to 3.1 lbs in 2024 (+13%)

• Increase fresh mushroom shipments by 127 million pounds from 2018 to 2024

• Equates to average annual shipment growth of 2% from 2018 to 2024

Overall Marketing Objectives: Consumer

• Increase awareness of fresh mushrooms

• Increase favorable beliefs and attitudes

• Increase trial

• Increase purchase intention, frequency and amount

Overall Trade Objectives:

• Increase merchandising and promotion of fresh mushrooms across Foodservice and Retail points of distribution

• Increase support of industry sales teams in selling into their respective trade partners

• Maintain momentum of Blend adoption and promotion in K-12, colleges and universities, and foodservice channels

• Expand awareness of and interest in The Blend™ in the Retail channel to support expanded adoption

Our Objective & Strategic Priorities

The Blend™ Positioning

• Mushrooms are the meaty food with major flavor impact, health benefits and culinary versatility

• So, mushrooms and meat combined create a great flavor experience that’s also better for you and the planet

Overall Strategies

• Use The Blend™ as our primary marketing platform to promote the benefits of fresh mushrooms

• Employ a double-barreled message of flavor/taste, followed by “better for you” supported by Nutrition Research.

• Continue to use the blended burger as the gateway food

• Expand and leverage the existing success of foodservice adoption

• Increase direct-to-consumer engagement

• Use partnerships to build credibility and extend resources

• Leverage manufacturing, distribution and promotional scale of large food companies

• Use more integrated and consistent messaging across campaigns and channels

• Prioritize decisions based on facts and ROI

• Share assets and campaign platforms with industry members for their own customization and amplification

The Mushroom Council plays a very important role in the national promotion of fresh mushrooms through consumer public relations, foodservice communications and retail communications.


Comments from the ChairRobert Murphy, South Mill Champs

In 2019 the mushroom industry was once again exceeding category growth records in both the retail and foodservice sectors. I was looking forward to highlighting a banner year, but something devastating happened that we all know too well: coronavirus. An unseen enemy that not only decimated our much-needed foodservice sector but changed our normal pace of life. The accomplishments of 2019, such as increasing recognition of mushrooms’ sustainability and nutrition benefits, and The Blend’s unbelievable growth, have been overshadowed by a major health crisis.

This crisis has negatively affected us all. I have two daughters in the medical field – one in dental and one an ICU Nurse. I personally receive profound updates directly from the frontline. The Mushroom Council is represented by members from every region. Council representatives all hail from mushroom farming operations and are working through the same battles as our foodservice partners. The Mushroom Council has and always will have the best interest of the entire industry. Please do not hesitate to reach out to your local representative with any of your concerns, that’s why we are here.

Effective marketing strategies that were the result of industry collaboration, consistently reinforced by health and nutrition research, provided a powerful and sustainable message that produced unbelievable results in 2019. That same industry collaboration will once again yield positive results in 2020. I know this might be hard to believe right now, but we are MUSHROOM STRONG, and our great industry produces one of the most sustainable, great tasting, nutritious and blendable foods on the planet.

I look forward to enjoying a meal and a bottle of wine at a restaurant soon!!

“We are MUSHROOM STRONG, and our great industry produces

one of the most sustainable, great tasting, nutritious and blendable

foods on the planet.”


State of the Industry:

Retrospective and ForecastYet another year for the record books. That is the same first sentence as in last year’s annual report. Why? Because it continues to be true! Unfortunately, as this is being written, the industry is in the midst of another kind of unprecedented event: the collapse of the foodservice market in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. If nothing else, we hope the ongoing strength of the market for mushrooms shown in 2019 and the beginning of 2020 will provide some hope, if not solace to those cruelly impacted by this catastrophe. Mushrooms have continued to make superfood lists and, even more impressively, are TOPPING influential trend lists from the likes of Whole Foods, the National Restaurant Association, and more. Top prognosticators are even suggesting the concept of The Blend™ is most likely to overtake the “plant-based” hype in the long run. Total fresh shipments again set many more new highs in 2019: total pounds, average pounds per month and percentage of total domestic crop, to name a few.

Again, while 2020 has been turned upside down, below is how the future looked through 2019, and there is reason to believe that this strong forecast can and WILL resume once this crisis is over.

Demand vs Supply forecasts

R² = 0.9812

300.00

400.00

500.00

600.00

700.00

800.00

900.00

1000.00

1100.00

1200.00

1300.00

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Demand Graph 2009-15 actual, 2015-2024 Spec

493,960515,020

529,670

580,440

614,550

649,272

686,770

675,420

689,780716,651

739,640719,347727,325

751,925754,944741,381

796,107810,132

848,606872,863

897,395925,136931,505

945,372967,061978,480

R² = 0.9691

300,000,000

400,000,000

500,000,000

600,000,000

700,000,000

800,000,000

900,000,000

1,000,000,000

1,100,000,000

1,200,000,000

19941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019**

Combined Shipments by Year, Constrained Supply forecast to 2024 In Millions

** Projected based on YTD '18 growth rate


Observations Extracted From Mushroom CouncilFirst Handler Reports:

• 9 months of 2019 set new record highs, with a record consecutive run from June-December increasing 2.6%, and December up a whopping 6.5% vs. the year prior, the first month to top 90 million pounds.

• The monthly average for fresh shipments hit a new record high, 81.6 million pounds, with 7 months over 80 million, and summer months averaging 79.6 million fresh pounds. So much for the summer slump!

• Domestic production and shipments continued to be “constrained” (in spite of record yields per square foot, see below) as the strong demand continues to be supplied by record setting imports, which hit a growth rate of 12% for the year, the highest percentage year-over-year gain since 2005.

• Further signs of domestic “constraints” are the further reduction in pounds shipped to processing, fewer retail ads and rising retail prices of fresh mushrooms (see Retail Volume Slows in 2019 below).

• Indeed the year-end retail sales report by IRI indicates average retail prices finished the year up over 2%, while pounds were off roughly 2%.

• Given that total shipments finished the year up over 1%, foodservice sales must have carried the day in 2019; we estimate up 4% in order to overcome the drop in retail volume…and yet deliver overall shipment growth.

Fresh shipments hit a new record high

81.6 millionpounds

with 7 months over 80 million

Please note this survey was modified by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service to survey only 8 states, and thus roughly 5% of grower information and any nuances of those growing regions is no longer captured. This is separate from the actual monthly shipments as reported to the Council:

Observations Triggered by 2018/19 NASS Report

• Fresh agaricus share of total domestic production inched up to a new record high; just over 92%. Processed mushroom volume fell to a record low of less than 70 million pounds.Imports of processed mushrooms remain flat, albeit a significant shift of share to frozen is observed.

• Agaricus yield per square foot and dollars per square foot reportedly hit new highs, up 7% and 10% respectively, due to yet another reportedly record high for prices as well.

Long term retail category growth has been solid. From 2013 to 2019 the mushroom category has increased retail dollar sales by over $223 million.

The rate of the category growth slowed slightly in 2019 with category dollar sales flat, and volume down 2%. The lack of volume growth can be attributed to sales decreases of White and Portabella mushrooms.

Overall, the USDA Weekly Advertised Sale Pricing report show that shippers cut back on promotional price more often in 2019 – a 70% drop in number of weeks with advertised sales promotions. December’s lack of retail promotions led the mushroom category reach a new overall price of $4.22/lb during the holiday period from 11/28 – 12/26/2019.

Retail Volume Slows in 2019; Prices Hit New Highs


With 2019 shipment reports showing an increase of 1.35%, and retail volume falling slightly, the foodservice channel is showing the strength and growth in this sector.

Research conducted by Datassential on the foodservice channel in 2019 showed:

• Mushroom usage is on the increase in all restaurants – from QSR to fine dining, with numbers on the rise is use on pizza, burgers, breakfast, beef, chicken and appetizers

• Mushrooms are menued at greater price points across all restaurant types.

The Datassential study also showed that 42% of colleges and universities serve The Blend™ , both as burgers and in

other entrees. The study estimates at 29,163,360 pounds of blended protein is served annually on campuses. Of those operators that blend in-house, 92% report using fresh mushrooms in their Blend. Additionally, 14% of universities that currently do not serve blended product are very interested in adding it to their dining halls menu, and another 28% are somewhat interested.

Restaurant participation in the 2019 James Beard Foundation Blended Burger Project™ increased, showing more restaurants are adding a blended burger to their menu – and many not just for the contest time frame but as a constant menu item. This year, over 500 restaurants, representing all 50 states, entered the competition – a 40% increase over 2018 entrants.

Fresh Mushroom Growth in 2019 – Strong Showing by Foodservice

Estimated total volume of blended protein at C&Us

The forecast for blended protein at C&Us is overwhelmingly positive


Imports of fresh mushrooms (Agaricus Bisporus) increased 14.5 percent in volume over 2018; the average unit value (AUV) increased 2 percent.

Canada continues as the leading exporter of fresh Agaricus, for the second year in a row shipping 78 percent of the 144.2 million pounds of fresh mushrooms shipped into the United States. Fresh imports from Canada, for the second year in a row, increased 19 percent over the previous year. Mexico is a distant second, shipping 26 million pounds, an increase of 18 percent over 2018.

The volume of non-Agaricus mushrooms, described in the Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) as Not Elsewhere Specified or Indicated (NESOI) and commonly referred to as specialty mushrooms, was 24.3 million pounds, a 1.5 percent decrease over 2018. For the fifth year in a row, the largest exporter is Korea, shipping 57.7 percent of that total. The AUV increased from $1.00 to $1.10 for the overall NESOI category between 2018 and 2019.

Imports of Fresh Mushrooms Increased


For over a decade, results from the investment in nutrition research have discovered mushrooms’ role in a nutritious diet to help improve consumers’ health and lower their risk of modifiable chronic diseases. Under guidance of a scientific nutrition Research Advisory Panel, the Nutrition Research Program identifies priority projects that contribute to the credible scientific base to support consumer and nutrition influencer communications efforts. Results of these projects provide timely nutrition content for the Council’s website, the e-newsletter Nutrition News about Mushrooms, educational resources for Registered Dietitian Nutritionists and content support for other Council program areas. The Program also monitors and comments on public policy initiatives that impact mushrooms’ role in health promotion and dietary guidance.

The goal of the Consumer Program is to increase awareness and demand for fresh mushrooms through a strategic mix of targeted media outreach, social/digital campaigns, event activations and influential partnerships.

In 2019, we reached audiences through a variety of channels and activities, including a brand new consumer Blended Burger Contest in partnership with Bon Appétit Magazine, monthly “Blenditarian™” recipe challenges on social media, dozens of cross-promotional partnerships, from commodity groups to top social influencers, and media outreach that placed mushroom atop food trend forecasts - with mushrooms featured in more than 60 trend news articles.

In the Foodservice Program, every segment showed activity with The Blend™. In Colleges & Universities, which were early adopters, almost 50% have now adopted The Blend™ and are using more mushrooms as they introduce more plant-forward and plant-based menus. At the same time, many of the major foodservice management companies are continuing to roll out The Blend™ and use more mushrooms.

This year’s James Beard Foundation 5th Annual Blended Burger Project™ was bigger than ever, with more restaurants participating and promoting The Blend™ . Winners from Florida, Alabama, Michigan and Hawaii showcased their burgers at the historic Beard House, an event that was covered by hundreds of publications. A number of fast casual brands introduced their version of the meat-mushroom blend, while consumers were able to buy The Blend™ at their favorite supermarkets, as major companies and brands created new products.

2019 for School Nutrition was a year of building our available resources for the website. As we look forward to 2020, we are pleased to see so many fresh mushrooms featured in on trend popular school entrees and sides. Unfortunately, it also saw the loss of our USDA IQF mushroom, due to low volume. The good news is we are now focused 100 % on fresh mushrooms going forward.

In 2019, more Mushroom Council™ partners were introduced to National opportunities provided through the School Nutrition Association (SNA). Council representatives attended the SNA Patron’s, which provided opportunities to better leverage our membership in SNA.

We have been very pleased to partner with even more major districts in featuring fresh mushrooms as Farm to School and Harvest of the Month.

MarketingProgramat a Glance


We launched a first-of-its-kind partnership between Bon Appétit and a commodity board: the Blended Burger Project™ “Home Edition.” Home cooks rose to the challenge of creating original blended burgers for a chance to win $25,000 - resulting in nearly 400 unique and creative blended burger recipes entered.

Media in fall 2019 once again consistently placed mushrooms atop food trend forecasts for the year ahead - with mushrooms featured in more than 60 trend news articles. As part of this coverage, in November, Whole Foods named The BlendTM and the Blended Burger Project a 2020 trend.

Restaurants from all 50 states participated in The 5th Annual James Beard Blended Burger Project. While this year was bigger than ever, the partnership was cited by a significant number of media and organizations, such as Whole Foods, in their prelude to 2020 trends forecast, selecting Mushrooms and The Blend™ as one of the top food trends to watch.

New products were launched by major CPG companies and meat suppliers featuring The Blend™. A major retail chain introduced its version and these companies rolled out product while also helping penetrate foodservice operations.

Research shows that 83% of colleges and universities in the U.S. are using The Blend™ or are interested in The Blend™.

Seven years of partnering in the K-12 channel, our Mushrooms In School brand is now in place and recognized in our channel.

The website has now launched and features the many incredible recipes we have been gathering so we can share how #RealSchoolFood includes delicious nutritious mushrooms. The website also features our Food Literacy materials. Please check them out.

Memorable Moments


Nutrition ResearchProgram

Mushroom Nutrition Research Mini-Summit April 2-3 Identifies PrioritiesOver 20 researchers, communicators, practitioners and mushroom growers engaged in a focused discussion to review past research and identify priority researchable topics to raise the visibility of mushrooms in nutrition guidance. Priority topics included neurocognition as an emerging area of interest, the role of bioactives such as ergothioneine in nutrition and health, and food pattern modeling on the impact of adding mushrooms to USDA Food Patterns as a strategic endeavor to inform future Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committees.

Council Invests in Future ResearchAt its June meeting, the Council approved an investment of approximately $1.5M over several years to support the following projects:

• Wayne Campbell, Ph. D, Purdue University: Nutrimetabolomics and human health promotion of mushrooms

• Victor Fulgoni, Ph.D, Nutrition Impact, LLC: Food pattern modeling to include mushrooms in USDA healthy dietary patterns

• Peggy Policastro, Ph.D. Rutgers University, New Jersey Healthy Kids Initiative: Identifying mushroom preferences among preschoolers

• Gloria Solano-Aguilar, Ph.D., USDA Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center: Dietary mushrooms in promoting brain health in an animal model

• Claire Williams, University of Reading, UK and Barbara Shukitt-Hale, Tufts University: A randomized controlled trial to investigate the cognitive, neurological and metabolic effects of acute and chronic mushroom intervention in older adults

• Katherine Phillips, Ph.D, Virginia Tech; Analysis of mushroom bioactives/ergothioneine for inclusion in the USDA FoodDataCentral database


Nutrition News about Mushrooms Communicates Results

Mushroom Visibility in National Nutrition Policy RaisedOn July 11,2019, in Washington D.C., Gale Ferranto, President of Buona Foods and former Mushroom Council Chair along with Dayle Hayes, President of Nutrition for the Future addressed the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee supporting The Blend™ as a way to improve nutrient intake.

"The U.S. mushroom industry has spent the past two decades investing in scientific research to better understand the nutrient composition and benefits of mushrooms. One result of that research has been the

creation of a very practical culinary concept we call “The Blend™ ” – the idea that

combining ground meat with finely chopped mushrooms creates more nutritious, delicious versions of iconic American

dishes, such as burgers." - Gale Ferranto

“School meal planners have learned how to balance student acceptance with enhanced

nutrition – lowering fat, cholesterol and sodium by serving cost-effective, flavorful

entrées that blend meat proteins with vegetables like mushrooms, peppers and

onions. These efforts are influencing student eating patterns at school and beyond.

Blending meat and vegetables also helps to reduce overall food waste in schools and to establish an early foundation for the healthy

eating patterns that are known to help reduce the burden of chronic diseases."

- Dale Hayes

• Vitamin D – When the Sunshine Vitamin Meets Winter reminded readers that mushrooms are the only source of vitamin D in the produce aisle and one of the few non-fortified food sources.

• Top Researchers Convene to Discuss Mushrooms’ Role in Dietary Guidance described the discussion and outcomes of the April 2,3 Nutrition Research Mini-Summit.

• Mushrooms and the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines reported on the July 11 in person comments by Gale Ferranto, Buona Foods and Bella Mushroom Farms, and Dayle Hayes, school-based nutrition program consultant to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee emphasizing mushrooms as a solution to helping consumers improve the nutrient quality of their food choices. Ferranto discussed research behind the “Blend” to create more nutritious, delicious versions of iconic American dishes. Hayes commented on increasing vegetable consumption in children, focusing on mushrooms and The Blend™ on school menus throughout the country.

• Managing Prostate Levels with Mushrooms, According to New Study described results small pilot study that enabled Dr. Shiuan Chen, City of Hope, Duarte, CA to apply and receive a $3.36 million National Institutes of Health grant for a larger clinical studying the effects of white button mushrooms on the risk of recurring prostate cancer.


Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Food and Nutrition Conference and ExpoThe Mushroom Council has been a longtime supporter of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, an organization reaching thousands of dietitians throughout the world. Its annual conference, the Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo (FNCE), is the premier event for engaging with dietitians of all types. With the 2019 conference taking place in Philadelphia, the Council had a more significant presence than previous years by exhibiting at the Expo and hosting a pre-FNCE RD farm tour in Kennett Square.

Over the three-day conference, the Council served some of the Expo floor’s favorite bites from blended burgers to vegan Philly “steak” sandwiches. More than 800 dietitians were added to the Council’s database and attendees left with recipe cards, nutrition fact sheets, buttons, totes and T-shirts.

Nutrition Promotion

Retail Dietitian Farm TourWith FNCE taking place in Philadelphia, the Mushroom Council leveraged the opportunity with a farm tour specifically for media RDs. Increasing engagement with media RDs has been a focus of the marketing program for the past few years and the Council assembled a mix of established national media dietitians, longtime mushroom supporters and up-and-coming RDs who have amassed a strong online following.


Retail Program

1,770+ Stores Participted

Nearly

150,000consumers particpated in

the sweepstakes

10,000 new fans

The Mushroom Council increased our consumer

mailing list by

Fifth Annual Retail Promotion with the Beef Checkoff In summer 2019, the Mushroom Council and the Beef Checkoff partnered for the the 5th annual retail grilling promotion to encourage shoppers to pair veal and mushrooms while entering the summer sweepstakes to win $500 in free groceries. Specifically marked packs of veal featured a new veal-mushroom recipe, Grilled Blended Meatballs with Sweet Teriyaki Glaze, developed by Jess Pryles (CEO of Hardcore Carnivore). The “Veal and Mushroom Summer Grilling Promotion” was shared through on-pack recipe labels, social media, e-blasts, websites, a press release and through a Facebook Live cooking demonstration on Jess Pryle’s Facebook page.

in the on-pack promotion

99,000+on-pack recipe

labels distributed


2.5 million Impressions

Whole Kids Foundation is the latest organization to partner with the Mushroom Council to promote The Blend™ in an effort to improve children’s nutrition and to help families make healthier choices. Along with Whole Kids Foundation, teen chef and MasterChef Junior finalist Evan Robinson shared his favorite ways to blend mushrooms and meat with two new recipes: Blended Mushroom Nachos and “Evanated” Pizza Burgers. The recipes, along with videos, are featured on Whole Kids Foundation’s website as well as on the social media channels for Whole Kids Foundation, Mushroom Council and Blenditarian™.

The Mushroom Council chose to work with the Whole Kids Foundation because of its united belief that supporting schools and inspiring families improves children’s nutrition and wellness. Given the right opportunities, kids will get excited about fresh vegetables, whole grains and other nutritious whole foods.

In addition, a full-page color feature was released, highlighting how to blend as well as easy-to-prepare family-friendly recipes. This release garnered 536 earned placements with an estimated impressions reach of 2.5 million.

Whole Kids Foundation Partnership and Promotion


Consumer MediaNutritious. Delicious. Sustainable. Blendable. Mushrooms Earn Media Attention from all angles.

Total 2019 media coverage:

31,732 Articles2.1 Billion impressions

The Blend™ Dr. Oz declared a blended burger the best innovative burger at fast food, superior to the emerging plant-based meat trend. “The core burger is there,” he noted. Shape magazine devoted pages with a step-by-step guide to building a blend. This year’s Blended Burger Project once again earned dozens of local news stories nationwide, with chef centric articles in outlets such as the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Los Angeles Times sharing how mushrooms make their burgers even more delicious and sustainable.

Blend-Only 2019 Coverage:

3,218 Articles332 million impressions

From national TV shows to buzz-generating online outlets, and from glossy lifestyle magazines to daily newspapers, media of all types centered on mushrooms in 2019 - and for a variety of reasons.

VersatilityCostco Connection, one of the largest print

publications, shared the many ways mushrooms can be incorporated into meals, while Real Simple showed why consumers are “adding mushrooms to everything

from coffee to smoothies.”

Health Time magazine took time to spotlight mushrooms’ diverse nutritional benefits, while Eating Well centered on the “five amazing health benefits.”


Mushrooms back at the top of trend listsIn fall 2019, media representing an array of categories once again declared mushrooms a top trend in their forecast for the year ahead. More than 60 articles in outlets such as Wall Street Journal, SmartBrief, Forbes, CNN, Eater, USA Today, Fast Company, Business Insider, CNN and Food Navigator.

Trade media spotlight mushrooms in more than76 stories.Consistent coverage in outlets such as Produce News, The Packer, Restaurant Business, FreshPlaza, Produce Retailer, Flavor & Menu, Produce Business and more.

Whole Foods Names The Blend™

and the Blended Burger Project™

a 2020 top food trend.

Consumer PublicRelations Program

Social/Digital Partnerships Key in Reaching Consumer Audiences

Throughout 2019, the Mushroom Council activated ongoing and timely seasonal campaigns to reach consumers on social and digital spaces. Essential in making these campaigns successful were strategic partnerships with influencers, media, produce peers and others to help extend the reach of messaging for mushrooms and The Blend™ and ultimately grow mushroom consumption.

• Shroom Goals: Mushrooms’ role in achieving 2019 goals: from nutrition to cooking

• Shroommates: “Pairings” with other commodity groups to cross-promote recipes

• Mushroom Madness: A series of interactive polls for fans to vote for favorite mushroom recipes

• Earth Month Dinners: Meal inspiration featuring earth-friendly mushrooms

• Summer Grilling with Veal: 5th annual partnership and sweepstakes promotion

• Monthly #Blenditarian Recipe Challenges: Monthly challenge to create a blended recipe to enter to win a $50 grocery gift card.

2019 Social Activities


Mushroom Council x Bon AppetitAs the flagship campaign of the year, the partnership between Bon Appétit and Mushroom Council was a first-of-its-kind partnership between Bon Appétit magazine and a commodity board. A custom program was designed to bring blended burgers to the masses:

• A test-kitchen video demonstration featuring Bon Appétit test kitchen director Chris Morocco’s original “Blended Smash Burger”

• The first-ever Blended Burger Contest for home cooks challenging them to build a blended burger for a chance to win $25k

• Influencer content featuring custom blended burgers to launch contest

• Articles on Bon Appétit.com (“4 Benefits to Making a Blended Burger” and “Add This Ingredient to Your Grocery List, Stat”)

• Bon Appétit social posts and digital banner ads driving readers to Mushroom Council content

A Mushroom a DayTo position mushrooms as an easy to incorporate into any time of the day, every day, the “A Mushroom a Day” campaign encouraged consumers to add mushrooms to the grocery list as a pantry staple. Throughout the month of September, Mushroom Council™ engaged 10 partners, including dietitians, social influencers and other commodity groups, to bring more than 140 social media posts to fans, and garner 2.2 million impressions.

19.4 MIllion

400original blended burger contest

entries

consumer impressions

4.5+ MIllionVideo Views

4.6+ MIllionSocial Engagements

Nearly


#Blenditarian

Hashtag Impressions

1,657 456 25,253

Reach of hashtagged posts

Continued buzz on social with The Blend™ campaign hashtags.

5,255,772 14,891,298#BlendedBurger

Hashtag Impressions

Social media posts with hashtag

Users posting with hashtag

Engagements with hashtagged posts

1,345 242 59,270

Reach of hashtagged posts

1,441,609 3,256,367

Engagements with hashtagged Users posting with hashtagSocial media posts with hashtag

Blended Burger Hashtags

Blenditarian™ Keywords


Because Colleges & Universities have been early adopters and significant users of The Blend™, The Mushroom Council commissioned Datassential, a major foodservice research company, to determine penetration in this important segment which includes 4,380 colleges and universities. College students care about sustainability and have been demanding more plant-based menus using mushrooms and plant-based proteins as well as plant-forward menus featuring The Blend™ as they become more “Flexitarian” in the way they eat.

The 2019 research showed how well Dining Directors are meeting the needs of their guests. Here are some key highlights:

• 86% of all Colleges & Universities in this country are aware of The Blend™

• 42% currently serve The Blend™ and another 41% are interested in serving

• The largest method for serving The Blend™ (32% of users) is by making it in-house with fresh mushrooms

• Over the past two years 52% of Colleges & Universities say they are using more Blended items

• Over the next two years, 65% say they plan to use more

Colleges & Universities Are The Centerpiece of Blend Usage

are using fresh mushrooms and blending in-house.

32% of C&U’s serving the blend

Foodservice ProgramThe Blend™ remains the focus of strong activity across all segments in foodservice.

The Council continues to work with this segment, and in 2019, a number of large state universities launched their version of

The Blend™, while a top Foodservice Management company rolled out a Blend of grassfed beef and fresh roasted mushrooms to all their campus locations. Like many others colleges & universities, the only burger or ground meat product available in dining is The Blend™ .


Coming off a year when Sonic made the biggest impact with chains, other chains continued the momentum around The Blend™. SONIC© actually started 2019 with an LTO featuring their Blended Chili which had a complete serving of vegetables, perfect for a healthy way to kick off the year. The Counter, a fast-casual burger chain, also started the year with their Blended Burger which they promoted as a perfect way to start off the new year.

Several other small and regional chains explored The Blend™ . One of those was B. Good, an 80-unit chain based in Boston. With stores throughout the East Coast, B. Good introduced their Turkey Medley as part of their “Flexitarian Menu.” This turkey-mushroom burger is one of the most successful launches for B. Good and has now replaced its regular Turkey Burger on the permanent menu. B. Good presented to the International Foodservice Editorial Conference along with the Council on trends around The Blend™ and the performance of their Turkey Medley Burger. WOW Brands, which has branded concepts at colleges, military bases, healthcare operations and hotels, worked with the Mushroom Council to develop two different Blended Burgers. At the end of the year, Kum & Go, a major convenience chain with a focus on fresh foods has introduced its version of The Blend™, and a number of other fast casual and casual restaurants have reached out to the Mushroom Council for help with menuing.

The Blend™ Creates a Chain Reaction

Product DevelopmentConsumers across the country saw The Blend™ appear on retail grocery shelves. Many of the products that The Mushroom Council™ team worked on have launched. Many of these products are available at both retail and foodservice, some at retail only and some just at foodservice. Applegate is offering a beef-mushroom and a turkey-mushroom Blended burger. Bush Beans has a product made with beef, beans and mushrooms,

and Teton Waters Ranch has three different retail Blended products. Big Fork has introduced the first Blended sausage at a major national retailer. Our chefs have worked with many of the top meat suppliers on behalf of chains and products are being readied for distribution.


For the first time, nearly 500 restaurants from every state served and promoted their Blended Burger in the 5th Annual James Beard Foundation’s Blended Burger Project. This initiative was created by The Council in partnership with James Beard Foundation as a way to encourage chefs to create a great-tasting burger with at least 25% mushrooms that is good for consumers and the environment. This year, these special chefs blended mushrooms with more varied proteins than ever before — from beef and pork to seafood and poultry, with almost 15% of the entries blending with popular plant-based protein products or making their own plant-based mushroom burgers.

The top 25 restaurants with the highest votes were reviewed by a judging panel – Chris Morocco, Senior Food Editor, Bon Appétit; David Stample, Celebrity Chef and Philanthropist; Erika Nakamura and Jocelyn Guest, Star Butchers and Co-Founders, J&E SmallGoods – and narrowed to the final five.

Chefs from the winning restaurants will now have the opportunity to cook their blended burgers at the historic James Beard House in New York City on October 23. Winners will also be taking home $5,000 each. Winners also took home $5,000 each.

Chef Jacqueline Sampson, Pompano Grill, Cocoa Beach, FLThe Psychedelic Phish Burger

Chef Meredith Manee, Ritz-Carlton’s Burger Shack, Kapalua, HIThe Maui Ono Mushroom Burger

Chef Justin Medina, Playalinda Brewing Company, Titusville, FLThe Viva Ybor! Burger

Chef Robert Repp, Hops at 84 East, Holland, MIThe Trumpet Burger

Chef Eric Rivera, Vintage Year, Montgomery, ALThe Blended Burger

Restaurants From All 50 States Participate in the 5th Annual Blended Burger Project™


We have been very pleased to partner with some major districts who pioneered the back of the house blending of IQF USDA mushrooms, most of whom also have long utilized fresh mushrooms in their operations.

School Nutrition Program

Total Servings: Share:

Total Pounds of Mushrooms:

Fresh Pounds: Frozen Pounds:

42,042,9280.8409% Total School Lunch Based on 5 Billion servings per year

2,520,9701,600,000920,970

School Year 2017/18

Total Servings: Share:

Total Pounds of Mushrooms:

Fresh Pounds: Frozen Pounds:

46,400,0000.928% Total School Lunch Based on 5 Billion servings per year

2,9000,0002,000,000900,000

School Year 2018/19


School Nutrition Industry Conference

Why fresh mushrooms are growing in schools

Continued growth of local days/meals Cost

AvailabilityCulinary impact

VersatilityAcceptability

Trends

January 2019, Austin Texas

The SNIC show is a premier conference for school nutrition leaders and their industry partners. This annual show welcomes over 600 attendees.

Mushrooms in Schools presented at an Innovative Session with sensory testing and fresh mushroom education to great interest from top districts from AZ to MN

The MIS team will also be presenting at the Table Top luncheon, sharing recipe concepts from districts across the country.

Child and Adult Care Feeding Program (CACFP) Conference2019 was Mushrooms in School initial participation with an exhibit featuring child care friendly recipes and the origins of our Farm to School Materials

With over 1700 attendees from across the country it was a large event and we learned a lot about this market. Our school nutrition specialist presented two educational session on meal planning and menus and was well received.


Culinary specialist Malissa Marsden promoted bright mushrooms, and other USDA Foods through educational sessions - with Creative recipes featuring #REALSchoolMeals with Mushrooms.

Our Exhibit hall booth promotes fresh and IQF with a sensory taste test with Chef Robert that pulled all the USDA folks in and showcased mushrooms to thousands of food show attendees.

There were many other booths sampling Ramen noodles and all of the companies featured mushrooms!

School Nutrition Association Annual National ConferenceSt. Louis MO

Ramen Bars Drive Fresh Mushrooms 2019 was the roll out of Ramen bard from manufactures such as Tyson and other Asian suppliers all feature fresh mushrooms.

More Mushroom Entrees

More entrees County SD, IN with roasted mushrooms and Portland SD featuring Yakisoba Noodles.

Tullahoma City SD TN features a Cowboy Burger; Gwinnett County SD, GA is the largest district in Gawith almost 200,000 Enrolled. This very popular burger is menued every three week; Coppell ISD featured a Back to School Burger Bar.


Independent Auditors Report

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT

The Governing Body Mushroom Council Redwood City, CA 94065

Report on the Financial StatementsWe have audited the accompanying financial statements of the governmental activities and the general fund of Mushroom Council, an instrumentality of the United States Department of Agriculture, as of and for the year ended December 31, 2018, and the related notes to the financial statements, which collectively comprise Mushroom Council’s basic financial statements as listed in the table of contents.

Management’s Responsibility for the Financial StatementManagement is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America; this includes the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

Auditor’s ResponsibilityOur responsibility is to express opinions on these financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America and the standards applicable to financial audits contained in Government Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement.

An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the entity’s preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements.

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinions.


OpinionsIn our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the respective financial position of the governmental activities, and the general fund of Mushroom Council, as of December 31, 2018, and the respective changes in financial position and, where applicable, cash flows thereof for the year then ended in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Other MattersRequired Supplementary InformationAccounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America require that the required supplementary information, such as management’s discussion and analysis and budgetary comparison information on pages 4-6, and 19 be presented to supplement the basic financial statements. Such information, although not a part of the basic financial statements, is required by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, who considers it to be an essential part of financial reporting for placing the basic financial statements in an appropriate operational, economic, or historical context. We have applied certain limited procedures to the required supplementary information in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America, which consisted of inquiries of management about the methods of preparing the information and comparing the information for consistency with management’s responses to our inquiries, the basic financial statements, and other knowledge we obtained during our audit of the basic financial statements. We do not express an opinion or provide any assurance on the information because the limited procedures do not provide us with sufficient evidence to express an opinion or provide any assurance.

Other InformationOur audit was conducted for the purpose of forming opinions on the financial statements that collectively comprise Mushroom Council’s basic financial statements. The Schedules of General and Administrative Expenses – Budget and Actual, the Schedule of Program Expenses – Budget and Actual, and the Schedule of Cash Receipts and Disbursements are presented for purposes of additional analysis and are not a required part of the basic financial statements.

The Supplementary Information listed in the table of contents is the responsibility of management and was derived from and relates directly to the underlying accounting and other records used to prepare the basic financial statements. Such information has been subjected to the auditing procedures applied in the audit of the basic financial statements and certain additional procedures, including comparing and reconciling such information directly to the underlying accounting and other records used to prepare the basic financial statements or to the basic financial statements themselves, and other additional procedures in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America. In our opinion, the Supplementary Information is fairly stated, in all material respects, in relation to the basic financial statements as a whole.

Report on Summarized Comparative InformationWe have previously audited Mushroom Council’s 2017 financial statements, and we expressed an unmodified opinion on those audited financial statements in our report dated April 30, 2018. In our opinion, the summarized comparative information presented herein as of and for the year ended December 31, 2017 is consistent, in all material respects, with the audited financial statements from which it has been derived.

Other Reporting Required by Government Auditing StandardsIn accordance with Government Auditing Standards, we have also issued our report dated April 16, 2019, on our consideration of Mushroom Council’s internal control over financial reporting and on our tests of its compliance with certain provisions of laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements and other matters. The purpose of that report is solely to describe the scope of our testing of internal control over financial reporting and compliance and the results of that testing, and not to provide an opinion on the effectiveness of the Mushroom Council’s internal control over financial reporting or on compliance. That report is an integral part of an audit performed in accordance with Government Auditing Standards in considering Mushroom Council’s internal control over financial reporting and compliance.




Council MembersRegion 2

Region 3

Region 4, Including Importers

YEAR REGION COUNCIL MEMBER POSITION

2019

11222334

Michael StephanCurtis Jurgensmeyer

Joe CaldwellSonya Beltran

Meghan Klotzbach Bob Murphy

Emily BettencourtJane Rhyno

Chair

2018

112222334

Michael StephanCurtis Jurgensmeyer

Bob BesixJoe Caldwell

Sonya BeltranGale Ferranto

Robert MurphyFred Fitz, Jr.Jane Rhyno

Treasurer

SecretaryChair

Vice Chair

HI

AK

AZ

UT

NV

CA

NM

OR

WA

WY

ID

MT ND

SD

NE

COKS

OK

TX

MN

IA

MO

AR

LA

WI

MI

IL IN

KY

TN

MS AL GA

FL

SC

NC

VA

OH

WV

RI

DE

NJ

DC

PA

NY

NHVT

MA

CT

MD

Region 1



2017

112222334

Pat JurgensmeyerMichael Stephan

Bob BesixDave Carroll


Robert MurphyFred Fitz, Jr.

Elizabeth O’Neil Meuregh

Chair

Vice ChairTreasurer

Secretary

2016

112222334

Pat JurgensmeyerMichael Stephan

Bob BesixDave Carroll


Robert MurphyFred Fitz, Jr.

Elizabeth O’Neil Meuregh

Chair

Vice ChairTreasurer

Secretary

2015

214122233

Tony D’AmicoPat Jurgensmeyer

Elizabeth O’Neil MeureghMichael Stephan

Dave CarrollJim AngelucciGale Ferranto

Robert MurphyRoberto Ramirez

ChairVice ChairSecretary

Treasurer

2014

221432213

Tony D’AmicoDave Carroll

Pat JurgensmeyerElizabeth O’NeilRoberto Ramirez

Jim AngelucciGale FerrantoCharles Bosi

Robert Murphy

Chair

Vice ChairSecretary

Treasurer

2013

321214322

Joe CaldwellTony D’Amico

Fletcher StreetDave Carroll

Pat JurgensmeyerElizabeth O’NeilRoberto Ramirez

Jim AngelucciGale Ferranto

Vice ChairChair

TreasurerSecretary

2012

223321214

Jim AngelucciJim Howard

Roberto RamirezJoe CaldwellTony D’Amico

Fletcher StreetDave Carroll

Pat JurgensmeyerElizabeth O’Neil

ChairTreasurerVice Chair

Secretary



2011

221243321

Greg SaganJim AngelucciGreg McLainJim Howard

Hank Vander PolRoberto Ramirez

Joe CaldwellTony D’Amico

Fletcher Street

Secretary

ChairTreasurerVice Chair

2010

221243321

Greg SaganJim AngelucciGreg McLainJim Howard

Hank Vander PolRoberto Ramirez

Joe CaldwellKathleen Lafferty

Fletcher Street

Chair

Secretary

Vice Chair

Treasurer

2009

211243321

Greg SaganVirgil Jurgensmeyer

Greg McLainPaul Frederic

Hank Vander PolRobert CrouchJoe Caldwell

Kathleen LaffertyFletcher Street

ChairSecretary

Vice Chair

Treasurer

2008

211253321

Carla Blackwell-McKinneyVirgil Jurgensmeyer

Greg McLainPaul Frederic

Hank Vander PolRobert CrouchJoe Caldwell

Kathleen LaffertyFletcher Street

Chair

Vice Chair

Secretary

Treasurer

2007

244231253

Carla Blackwell-McKinneyCurtis Jurgensmeyer

Greg McLainLynn James Angelucci

Charlee KellyLynn Mortensen

Paul FredericHank Vander PolRobert Crouch

Vice ChairChair

Treasurer

Secretary

2006

244231253


Greg McLainJames Angelucci

Charlee KellyLynn MortensenMichael PratolaHank Vander PolRobert Crouch

Vice ChairChair

Treasurer

Secretary



2005

244231253


Darrell McLainJames Angelucci

Charlee KellyVacant

Michael PratolaMurray O’NeilRobert Crouch

TreasurerVice Chair

Chair

Secretary

2004

244231253



John DavidsLisa Hemker

Michael PratolaMurray O’NeilRobert Crouch

TreasurerSecretary

ChairVice Chair

2003

324242351

Carl FieldsCarla Blackwell-McKinney

Curtis JurgensmeyerDan Lucovich


John DavidsMurray O’NeilWilhelm Meya

Vice ChairTreasurerSecretary

Chair

2002

322412331

Carl FieldsChris AlonzoDan Lucovich

Darrell McLainGreg Sagan

James AngelucciJohn Davids

Robert CrouchWilhelm Meya

Vice ChairTreasurer

Chair

2001

232241331

Charles BrosiusCarl Fields

Chris AlonzoDan Lucovich

Darrell McLainGreg SaganJohn Davids

Robert CrouchWilhelm Meya

Chair

Secretary

Treasurer

Vice Chair

2000

223423311

Charles BrosiusChris AlonzoClark Smith


John DavidsShah KazemiGreg Sagan

Vacant

ChairSecretary

Vice ChairTreasurer



1999

221213343

Charles BrosiusEdward Leo

Jack ReitnauerJames AngelucciJames Howard

John DavidsShah Kazemi

Virgil JurgensmeyerWilliam Street, Sr.

Chair

Vice ChairSecretaryTreasurer

1998

321212343

Douglas TannerEdward Leo

Jack ReitnauerJames AngelucciJames Howard

Roger ClaypooleShah Kazemi

Virgil JurgensmeyerWilliam Street, Sr.

Chair

Vice ChairSecretaryTreasurer

1997

322123413


James AngelucciRobert Miller


Virgil JurgensmeyerWilhelm Meya

William Street, Sr.

Vice Chair

Chair

Secretary

Treasurer

1996

322312341

Douglas TannerJames AngelucciJames Ciarrochi

John HaltomRobert Miller



SecretaryVice Chair

TreasurerChair

1995

322231341


James AngelucciJames Ciarrocchi

John HaltomRobert MillerShah Kazemi


Secretary

TreasurerChair

Vice Chair

1994

322321413


James CiarrocchiJohn HaltomMichael Pia

Robert MillerVirgil Jurgensmeyer

Wilhelm MeyaWilliam Street, Sr.

Secretary

Treasurer

ChairVice Chair


1993

322321413


James CiarrocchiJohn HaltomMichael Pia

Robert MillerVirgil Jurgensmeyer

Wilhelm MeyaWilliam Street, Sr.

Secretary

Treasurer

ChairVice Chair

Mushroom Council™303 Twin Dolphin Drive, Suite 600, Redwood Shores, CA 94065

Tel: 650-632-4250Email: [email protected]

Date post:	04-Jul-2020
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	0 times
Download:	0 times

2019 Annual Report...15. Consumer Media 16. Consumer Public Relations Program 19. Foodservice...

Documents